Fossil fuels to clean energy
When considering the transport sector, one of the biggest factors in the equation would be land automobiles like cars and buses. There are already many alternatives to fossil fuels for car transport, such as biofuel and cars that run on electricity. While biofuel offers a fuel with far fewer dangerous emissions than a fuel such as diesel it still has tail-pipe (C02 emissions from exhaust pipes) emissions, unlike electric cars, meaning some emissions escape through exhaust. It is also worth stating that current day electric cars also have a large carbon footprint. A carbon footprint, according to the Oxford Dictionary is the ‘measure of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of an individual or organization ’. Whil e the actual driving of electric cars leaves little to no carbon footprint, the production of the cars results in a negative impact on the environment, especially through the use of lithium-ion batteries. ‘ For every ton of mined lithium, 15 tonnes of Co2 is emitted into the air ’. 4 The lithium-ion batteries they use in the manufacturing of a Tesla model 3 battery, for example, produce between ‘ 3 tonnes and 16 tonnes of Co2 ’. 5 In comparison to the average car that runs on fossil fuels such as diesel and petrol, this is still much cleaner for the environment, since cars run on fossil fuels have a much larger carbon footprint due to the extraction of the fuels as well as tail-pipe emissions of CO2. This can be illustrated by the fact that using electric cars as opposed to fossil fuel cars shows an average of ‘ 4.6 tons of Co2 ’ is prevented from entering the atmosphere each year. 6 Clearly, we can understand that a change from cars than use fossil fuels to electric is much healthier for the environment. So how do we go about making an economically sustainable change? In order to achieve this, and reflecting back to my initial definition, there must be long-term economic growth in the electric car/vehicle industry that doesn’t result in an overtly negative impact on people’s lives. For example, switching to electric cars and banning diesel and petrol cars in the very short-term would not be economically sustainable, as many people wouldn’t be able to afford to buy an electric car, and would therefore be left without transport. This would be damaging to people’s livelihoods and , as a result, would be damaging to the economy overall. Ideally a phasing-in time period should be established so that governments and related industries can plan a cohesive way in which to phase out fossil fuel cars and make electric cars more accessible. In addition, infrastructure will need to be considered, such as providing quick and accessible electric charging ports for cars to make travel easier. Importantly, electric cars need to be priced affordably for consumers. Change is, indeed, already happening quickly in the car industry. Electric cars are becoming more affordable due to increased production in batteries, and infrastructure is in already in place and improving quickly in developed countries such as the UK, with the number of charging stations increasing from ‘ 26,805 ’ to ‘ 45,737 ’ in a year which equates to a ‘ 40% ’ increase. 7 Encouragingly, data from ‘ Automotive ’ states that electric vehicles are now more than half as expensive to run as petrol or diesel cars when charged at home on a dedicated energy tariff. Drivers charging at home on an electric vehicle (EV) tariff can save over 56% compared to what they are currently paying for petrol or diesel per mile. ’ 8 This shows that we are pretty much 4 Iris Crawford, March 1 st 2022 at https://meche.mit.edu/news-media/how-much-co2-emitted-manufacturing- batteries#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20the%20Tesla%20Model,kg%20(about %2016%20tons). 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 See Zapmap at www.zap-map.com/ev-stats/how-many-charging- points#:~:text=How%20many%20public%20charging%20points,charging%20devices%20since%20July%2020 22. Accessed 8/8/23. 8 Joe Pearson, December 1 st 2022 at https://www.drivetech.co.uk/cost-of-running-electric-car-vs-petrol/.
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